no one knows if it will survive italy's financial problems. ben wedeman has the story. >> reporter: in rome dig and you're likely to find something very old. for the past six years archaeologists have worked on this site north of the city. it was here that marca roman gel was buried, he was the inspiration for the character played by russell crowe in the movie, "glad yator." his character caught to keep the bar bearians at bay in the arena. more than 1,500 years ago rome fell to the barbarians. today in this age of euro zone austerity, the stunning remains of that great empire and artifacts at this site are under threat from what some might say are barbarians of another kind, cost-cutting accountants and the budget/ing bauer row accurates. in the past two years the budget to maintain the sites has been cut by at least 20%. as a result, some sites have been closed and projects cancel canceled. the coliseum will remain open, but some ancient treasures may literally be buried. he worked for several years at the gladiator's tomb. if funds around f